Product Description
This is perhaps the first book containing biographical information of Sir James Lighthill and his major scientific contributions to the different areas of fluid mechanics, applied mathematics, aerodynamics, linear and nonlinear waves in fluids, geophysical fluid dynamics, biofluiddynamics, aeroelasticity, boundary layer theory, generalized functions, and Fourier series and integrals. Special effort is made to present Lighthill's scientific work in a simple and concise manner, and generally intelligible to readers who have some introduction to fluid mechanics. The book also includes a list of Lighthill's significant papers. By providing detailed background information and knowledge, sufficient to start interdisciplinary research, it is intended to serve as a ready reference guide for readers interested in advanced study and research in modern fluid mechanics. ... Read more

Product Description
This four volume set contains almost all of the scientific papers of Sir Michael James Lighthill.One of the most distinguished scientists of the twentieth century and probably the central figure in many aspects of fluid mechanics, Lighthill's contributions to science include the initiation of the science of aerodynamic sound generation as well as historic work on shock waves, transonic aerodynamics, nonlinear physics, fluid dynamics, and the locomotion of fish, dolphins, and birds.

Each volume is divided into sections which unify Lighthill's papers in chronological order under individual themes.The research studies included are classic examples of applied mathematical research, each characterized by a process of three equally important steps: problem formulation based on empiricism or observation, problem solution, and empirical verification, or solution interpretation in relation to the physical phenomena under consideration.Applied mathematics is a two-way bridge between mathematics and science and technology and is inherently interdisciplinary.These volumes bear out this thesis. ... Read more

Product Description
A comprehensive textbook in which the author describes the science of waves in liquids and gases. Drawing on a subject of enormous extent and variety, he provides his readers with a thorough analysis of the most important and representative types of waves including sound waves, shock waves, water waves of all kinds, and the so-called internal waves (inside atmospheres and oceans) due to intensity stratification. Emphasis throughout is on the most generally useful fundamental ideas of wave science, including the principles of how waves interact with flows. This standard work on one of the great subdivisions of the dynamics of fluids, is lucidly written and will be invaluable to engineers, physicists, geophysicists, applied mathematicians or any research worker concerned with wave motions or fluid flows. It is especially suitable as a textbook for courses at the final-year undergraduate or graduate level. ... Read more

Customer Reviews (4)

Probably the best book on the subject, but a tough slog
This book will be of interest to a wide range of scientists and engineers who are studying wave motion in fluids in a variety of terrestrial applications.This book is intended to be a reference for an advanced graduate student or researcher and assumes a considerable amount of background knowledge.I'd say that if you aren't comfortable with most of the material in Landau and Lifschitz (Fluid Mechanics, 2nd ed.), much of this book will be incomprehensible.I only give this four stars for two reasons.First, I found this book to be tough going.My feeling is that Lighthill's style just doesn't suit me so maybe this is a personal, not general, complaint, but I found that he does not explain things well and often obsfuscates key points.Second, I think that the first two chapters (on sound waves and one dimensional waves in fluids) are woefully inadequate.The real meat of this book is in the second two chapters (water waves and internal waves) and definitely worth the price of the book if that is your interest, but the basics of the subject were not tied together well (or clearly) in the first two chapters.This is still an introductory book in some sense (`introductory' to an advanced topic, that is).Finally, be warned that this book deals mostly with terrestrial, subsonic applications (waves in the ocean, blood flow in capallaries, etc.).I approached this book from an astrophysics perspective (i.e. viscous, compressible flows mostly) and found the book less useful.

Note: This is NOT a new edition
This is a reissue of Lighthill's original book by the same name. It is simply reissued into the Cambridge Mathematical Library Series. To see the publication documentation page, search the contents of the book using the keyword "published", then select the entry labeled "from Front Matter".

One of the very best books for waves in fluids
This book, althought an it's an old one, is a masterpiece.
It covers all one needs to know in order to study wave generation and propagation in fluids. The level of reading is not exactly easy. Ever since the first page, the reader is assumed to have some familiarity with the subject. It MAY appear that it is an introductory book, but it is not. The level of math understanding required to read this book is high. Everything is explained in a coincise form, but sometimes it happens that every line contains a concept, and this will slow down the speed of reading seriously...
Anyway: I like this book, and if you're not a novell, buy it.

All about Waves
This book is a kind of a book that is seldom used as a text in universities, but everybody in the fields of math, physics, and engineering, has once read. The most valuable topic in thisbook would be the theory of aeroacoustics which is developed by the auther. Everything isfundamental, but you can learn a great deal aboutwaves which you cannotfrom other books. This book is a prerequisite to anyone who wants to talkabout waves in fluids. ... Read more

Product Description
The acronym VAN refers to Drs Varotsos, Alexopoulos andNomicos, members of a group based in the University of Athens and ledby Professor Varotsos (head of the Physics Department) which for overa decade has sought to use electric-field measurements betweenelectrodes buried in the earth to predict earthquakes in Greece overperiods of order one month or less. But is such "short-term"prediction achievable by the VAN approach (or by any other)? This bookis an objective collection of the arguments for - and thecounterarguments against - that approach, intended to helpscientificreaders arrive at their own answers to this important question, aswell as to others (including that of VAN's "export" potential). ... Read more